


Children of the Ark

by Alyssacameron19



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-09
Updated: 2015-06-11
Packaged: 2018-03-22 00:39:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3708779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alyssacameron19/pseuds/Alyssacameron19
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After breaking into the Ark's security system, sixteen year old Payte Davenport was locked up in the Skybox, a juvienile confinement for delinquents to wait for their eighteenth birthday where they will be pardoned or more commonly floated for their crimes. Ten months of solitary later, the council decided to send the children of the Skybox to Earth, a radiation filled wasteland as they believed, to supply more air for the rest of the Ark. What will Payte do when she is faced with terrors of mankind and the Earth weighing on her, and what will happen to the children of the Ark as they try to survive on a planet that was thought to be uninhabitable for 97 years?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Free Falling

I was reading when they came in, rushing through the doorway and yelling at me to stand up. I had learned it was better to do what they said but still hadn't learned to keep my mouth shut yet. I laid my book about Earth's atmosphere on the bed and stood. They had interrupted my allotted reading time, a hour and a half every day. At first, the officer studied the cover of my book, but then he lost his softness and became rigid, looking me in the eyes.

"Hold out your wrist, Prisoner." I thought that he wanted me to argue. Maybe that would make it easier for him. I wasn't the type to give people what they wanted. Therefore, I held out my hand without a single word. It was better not to argue with officers in the Skybox. Arguing would lead to cruel punishment, and who wanted to volunteer for cruel punishment, not me. However, no punishment the officers could inflict on me would ever be worse than the one I went through every day alone in my room. I was silently rotting away in my cell, going day after day with little to no social interaction. I was living through hell, hell that I inflicted upon myself. I had to go steal those files. I had to go get myself locked up just for the better understanding of the Earth that my people left a century ago, the Earth that was a ball of toxic radiation. Even though I was locked up, I told myself I was lucky. I was only sixteen when it happened, so I wouldn't be killed like the guilty people over eighteen would for their crimes against the rules of the Ark. But sometimes, I thought death would be better than solitude.

"How are you today, Sir?" I asked with a tainted smile. Like I said, I hadn't learned to shut my mouth. He was over at the table, picking up a bracelet. I had a smirk on my face, but it quickly disappeared when he turned around with needles sticking up inside the band. That was when I started to resist. I jerked as he placed the needles against my skin and screamed when he pushed them into my skin. The pain was blinding at first, but when the bracelet closed, some of the urgent pain eased and became a deep ache.

"Only a bit of friendliness, Officer," I smirked again. Why couldn't I shut up? The main officer nodded, and a wand hit me in the back, sending volts of electricity through my body. I fell to my knees, smiling. "Oh that felt good." I turned around and looked up at the officer with the wand. "Would you like me to call you Daddy next time?" He blushed as he looked down at me. I had embarrassed him. It must have been wrong of me since the other officer grabbed me by the hair.

"Shut up, woman." He let me go by pushing me to the floor. I hit my face against the cement. When I was pulled back up, I felt something sliding down my face and realized that I was bleeding. "Help me pick her up," yelled the officer. The other one looked down at me with pity and hurried to heave me to my feet, only I was still too numb from the shock to walk. Dragging me, they walked out of the cell.

Outside was more hectic than what had happened in my cell. People were everywhere, screaming, kicking, cursing. The resisting were hit or shot with the sleep serum that I had a few encounters with before. Thankfully, I had only received the wand. Now I didn't have to walk, and they had to do all the extra hard work.

"Be a good girl and follow orders, okay?" said the officer that had struck me.

"Yes, Daddy," I responded. I wasn't about to make this easy for them.

"I am going to pretend like I didn't hear that." It gave me a sense of satisfaction. The officers carried me all the way to a large room filled with other delinquents. They had all been obedient since no one was passed out like the ones being changed in the hallways.

The officers sat me in the floor, and the large one threw a pair of clothes at me. "Put them on." All genders filled the room, staring at me.

"Fine." I said as the guys were already undressing me with their eyes. I turned and gave them a scowl. I took off my shirt and threw it up to the officer. I was pissed, being forced to reveal my body to these people. I looked down at the stack of clothes. They were familiar. The shirt, a gray short sleeve that I stolen from my father, my favorite black bandana, and the pants that I had worn for years. They were the clothes I was arrested in. I tied the bandana around my hair, put the shirt on and sat there, looking up at the officers.

"Now your pants," the larger one said.

"Well if I could feel my legs, I would, but since I can't, you are going to have to, Sir." I looked up with anger in my eyes. My legs were tingling as I sat there. "Today would be nice." With a huff, the man undid my pants and pulled them off, replacing them quickly. I looked around to see the boys still staring.

"Put your eyes back in your head before I rip them out," I growled at the closest one. He turned around and began to fumble with his clothes. "That's what I thought." The officer interrupted me by throwing a leather jacket at me. I looked at it then him.

"It's to keep warm." I put it on and waited for the officers. They picked me up and dragged me into a capsule. The larger one left me while the other stayed.

"Finally," he says. "Are you okay, Payte?" He carefully watched the door.

"Yes, thanks for the shock by the way. So do you have the communicator? Have you wired theirs? Will it all work?" I asked.

"Yes. I have everything under control. I've did everything you said to," he said.

David, who was dressed as an officer, was my most trusted friend. Before I was arrested, I was the top of my class. I excelled in technology, hacking and reprograming, and engineering. One night, messing around on the computer, I stumbled on the council's personal files. From there, I found that we had a limited amount of life support left, barely enough to last a year. That's when I started finding more secrets hidden from the public. There had been many times over the past century where population reductions were played off as freak accidents. I eventually found the plans for the delinquents to be sent to Earth. I knew I had to go. It was my dream to go to Earth. If I died, then I would die happy or you know suffocating in radiation. Either way I would have gone to Earth. So I went and got myself arrested. I'll admit, it wasn't my greatest plan, but from there, I began my blueprints. Anyone who had any knowledge about the atmosphere of Earth should have known outside communicators would fry when we went through, but apparently the designers of the capsule knew nothing about the atmosphere. Dumbasses. That's when I started designing my own chip that would rewire the fried communicator. It was brilliant.

"I have to go now. This is going to work. I know it will," said David. He kissed my hair and put the chip that I designed in my hand. "Good luck." I slipped the chip into my leather jacket and waited.

People began to fill in the capsule shortly after David left. A boy was placed beside me, but I didn't pay much attention as to who it was. Then the officers brought in a girl. They put her on my left, but still I was too lost in my thoughts to care about her.

"Hey Payte," said the boy. I turned to him with a hard look. "Your name is Payte right?" he continued.

"Yeah, it is. How did you know?"

"When you broke into the labs, they showed it on the monitors for like a whole month. The first person to ever break into the systems like that. You're like a genius." I was on the monitors for a whole month? That sort of made me proud. Before everything, I was only the computer girl. Now I am the genius that was going to Earth? Eh it'll work. You find pretty low things to be proud of when you barely can do anything. Sometimes getting up was an accomplish for me, because all I wanted to do was sulk in my cell, thinking I was wrong and they weren't going to send us to the ground.

"I guess." I said.

"What do you think they are going to do with us?" The boy asked.

"We are going to Earth." I simply stated. The boy looked unconvinced. That's when we began to fall. We were on our way. The capsule jerked hitting a rift.

"We can't," the girl interjected.

"Then why are we falling?" I asked. I didn't want to talk about this anymore. I just wanted to close my eyes until we collided with the Earth. I was ready to get out of this capsule or be crushed inside it by impact when the gravity pulled us down onto the Earth's floor. Either one would have been better than trying to convince those two.

My eyes wandered around the capsule. In front of me was the Chancellor's son, Wells, and Clarke Griffin. Her father had discovered that the life support was running out. She was found guilty with her father when Wells turned her father in for trying to tell the public. Her dad was immediately sentenced to death while Clarke was sent to the Skybox. She had just woken up. I suspected the sleep serum. Wells was watching her, and I seen how shocked she was to see that he was on here.

"Welcome back," he said. Smooth dude. She stared at him without speaking. "Look," he started.

"Wells, what the hell are you doing here?" Her voice was urgent and a tad bit angry. I thought that if I had popcorn and if I wasn't possibly falling to my death, this would be a good show.

"When I heard they were sending prisoners to the ground, I got myself arrested." Clarke's eyes widened and her head went back just a little. "I came for you." Come on dude. Really? That was a little creep- ahhhhhh. I didn't scream out loud, but that's what it would have sounded like if I had. We had just broken through the atmosphere.

The only monitor in the capsule turned on, and Well's dad appeared. He wasn't dressed in his usual attire. He actually looked like a civilian. The lights shook and turned on simultaneously.

"Prisoners of the Ark, hear me now. You have been given a second chance. As your chancellor, it is my hope that you see this as not only a chance for you but a chance for all of us, indeed for mankind itself. We have no idea what is down there waiting for you. If odds of survival were better, we would have sent others. Frankly, we are sending you because your crimes have made you expendable." People began to shout crude things to Wells about his dad, and I tended to agree. That was dick wording. Just because these kids made a mistake doesn't mean they are expendable. Apparently he have never heard of Nelson Mandela. "If, however, you do survive, those crimes will be forgiven, your records wiped clean. Your drop site has been chosen carefully. Before the last war, Mount Weather was a military base built within a mountain. It was to be stocked with enough non perishables to sustain three hundred men for up to two years. No one ever made it there." That was the last thing I heard the Chancellor say because a guy got out of his harnesses and decided it was cool to float through the air.

"You are literally an idiot." I said out loud. The guy looked over at me and winked. Then he turned to Wells.

"Check it out. Your dad floated me after all," he said. I rolled my eyes and then closed them, listening.

"You should strap in before the parachutes deploy," Wells says. Oh parachutes. At least we have a chance of surviving the crash. I opened my eyes to say something to Wells, but I spotted two more guys undoing their harnesses.

"Hey, you two, stay put if you want to live." Clarke yelled. The guys didn't listen to her, so I decided to interject.

"Dumbasses, I think it would be the best if there was only one casualty today. Don't you?"

"Hey, you're the traitor whose been in solitary for a year. And you're the girl who broke into the system. Nice work by the way." I pursed my lips and squinted my eyes. Thankfully, Clarke spoke before it got awkward.

"You're the idiot who wasted a month of oxygen on an illegal space walk."

"But it was fun," he paused. "I'm Finn."

From the corner of my eye, I watched the two guys begin to slip from their harnesses.

"Stay in your seats," yelled Clarke. That's when the parachutes deployed and all three of the guys went flying. Finn went over Clarke's head while the other two crashed directly into the hard wall, hitting steam pipes. Steam began to fill the capsule.

"Finn, are you okay?" Clarke screamed. The capsule was being shook vigorously. Sparks flew in every direction. People screamed and jumped as it came their way. I closed my eyes again, gripping the harness and blocking out the yelling around me. I had to be calm, or I would have a panic attack. My heart was in my throat and I could feel my last meal making its way up there, begging to come out. At some point, I was jerked over to the boy, and other times, I was basically on top of the girl. I wouldn't have been surprised if we had all gotten whiplash. Finally, the sounds of the capsule's engines shutting off was all that could be heard. The shaking stopped and the lights flickered on. I could barely think until the harnesses released us automatically.

Clarke got up and rushed over to Finn who was with the two guys who had hit the wall. I knew they were dead. They had hit so hard when the parachutes deployed it would be a miracle if they didn't break their necks or crush their internal organs, but I walked over and checked their pulse anyways. They were gone.

"The outer doors on the lower level!" someone yelled out. A swarm of people bolted from their seats and headed down the stairs.

"No, we can't just open the door!" Clarke stood and followed the crowd.

"Freaking dumbasses." I yelled, following her. I walked down the stairs and pushed my way through the crowd.

"Hey, just back it up, guys," a guy said from the front of the capsule. He had to be older than eighteen. He started for the lever that would open the capsule as we got downstairs.

"Stop!" Clarke yells. "The air could be toxic." She was standing face to face with the mysterious man.

"If the air is toxic, we're all dead anyways." I looked over to Clarke. He did have a really good point, but I wasn't going to tell her that.

She was thinking of a comeback when a soft voice came from the back. "Bellamy?" it said. The man turned towards the voice along with everyone else. One of the girls who had been cheering Finn on earlier was standing on the steps. She jumped down and made her way up to him.

"Oh my god. Look how big you are?" They hugged and then she looked him over. It was getting a little freaky. She asked him about his clothes, but I was to busy focusing on the lump in my throat. I hadn't gotten over the landing yet. I zoned out for like one second, and when I looked back up, all I could see was this girl trying to come at the crowd. I had clearly missed something.

"What did I miss?" I asked Clarke.

"He's her brother," she whispered. What? No one had a brother. On the Ark, a family was only allowed one child. It helped the population control.

"Octavia, no. Let's give them something else to remember you by," her brother said, holding her back.

"Oh yeah. Like what?" she asked.

"Like being the first person on the ground in a hundred years." That calmed her down pretty quick. He turned around and reached for the lever. That time no one stopped him. Maybe it was in fear of his sister. Who knows.

We all stood their filled with anxiety as he pulled it down. That could have been our last living moment. That could have been the last breath I took, but it wasn't. The door was pushed back and smoke flooded the capsule, blinding us from the outside view. Shortly after, the smoke vanished and only sunlight shined through. We weren't dead. At least not yet.

The sun's light filled the capsule, its intensity turning my vision black for a moment. The darkness slowly faded away, and I was met with a green world. Green was everywhere. The ground was green, the trees were green. The only thing that wasn't green was the bright, blue sky that laid over head.

Octavia was standing in front, taking in the view like we all were. She stepped out. One, two steps. There she stopped, looked up to the sky, and took a deep breath. At that moment, everything was good. Well everything except the lump in my throat.

"Crap," I said. I couldn't take it any longer. I ran past Octavia and fell to my knees on the ground. The lump in my throat came out as that day's lunch, some mac-n-cheese. Oh it was bad, really bad, but what was worse was that I just surpassed a girl who looked like she wanted to rip me to shreds. Once I was done, I hurried back on the ramp.

"I am so sorry. I am so so sorry. Reboot. Rewind. Oh take a breath again. Act like that didn't happen. I am so sorry." I apologized. If looks could kill, I would have been long gone by then.

"Just go on," Bellamy said to his sister. She turned back to the open space ahead of us. Taking small steps, she ended up at the end of the ramp. She looked down at my vomit with disgust and then up to the sky. I bet it was a much better view. Everyone remained quiet as she looked around and even when she jumped off. Only when she threw her hands up and yelled "We're back, bitches." did they take off. Clarke and I were the only ones still standing in the capsule. Well I was only standing still because I knew if I moved I'd throw up again. I was waiting until I got over the motion sickness.

Clarke jumped down with the map in her hands. I decided to follow her since it seemed like she was the only one ready to do something. I jumped down behind her, the grass crunching under my feet. I was standing on Earth. It was exhilarating. We were on stable ground. I stood still, breathing real air, watching people dance and run. I was so lost in the moment, I didn't see Clarke start walking away.

"Hey! Hey, wait up," I yelled after her, running to her side. I was almost out of breath. We didn't do a lot of physical activity in the cells. "D-d-do you mind if I come with you. This isn't really my scene." She looked at me for a second, thinking it over I assumed. A simple nod gave me the approval I needed.

"So you're Payte," she said. "I remember you from school. You are really good with computer stuff." We were walking down a covered path, going deeper into the forest.

"Yeah that's sort of how I landed myself in the Skybox," I laughed. I hadn't been watching where I was going, so when Clarke's arm darted in front of me I was surprised. Looking down, I saw I was one step from falling down this cliff. How wonderful would that have been?

"That would have sucked," she said. I took a large step back. "Okay, look at this." She pointed down to a map. We were on the Appalachian mountain range, but unfortunately, we weren't on the right mountain. "Seriously?" It was a do able mission, but the question was would these kids do hard work to find a possible food source. I didn't think so. Not after what I saw. Those people were just happy to be out of prison. They wouldn't understand that we had to go.

"They won't go, Clarke. Maybe a handful at the most. These kids have been locked up for a long time. They've been told what to do for so long. Do you think they are going to just pick up and leave because a few "privileged people" tell them to. Privileged people have told them what to do their entire lives. Why would they listen to them now when they aren't forced to?" I asked. All I knew was we had about three people going on this mission, and it would be almost impossible for us to carry a hundred servings back.

"Food. They'll want food, and they will go with us to get it. They can't really believe that we could do it on our own," she responded, looking over the map again. I was focused on it too, trying to find the best way to go.

"Why so serious, princess?" Finn asked, taking a place in between us. Thankfully, he wasn't talking to me. "It's not like we died in a firey explosion." Clarke paused. She was still looking out at Mount Weather's peak.

"Try telling that to the two guys who tried to follow you out of their seats," she came back. Oh okay, tension. I thought I better leave.

"Okay, I'm going to go now, " I said, walking back up the path. I wasn't about to get pulled into that. I kept walking until I was amidst the chaos. Taking a step, I collided into a large, solid figure. More like he collided into me.

"Be careful, sweetheart. We wouldn't want to mess up that pretty face, would we?" I stabled myself on his shirt. Looking up, I saw Bellamy.

"I'll do what I want," I moved out the way, hitting our shoulders as I passed.

The capsule was fuming when I reached it. There was a small fire at the top. The wires had obviously fried. Wells was up there, examining them. I decided I better go up there and help him figure things out.

"It isn't going to work, Wells. They are gone. Come on down and we will talk about it," I told him, laying a hand on his back. He was sweating under the hot sun. "And let's get you some water." He nodded and followed me down. I had saw that Clarke was back from the top of the capsule, so we went to her. She was scouting out the best, straight forward route to the mountain.

"Clarke, we got problems," Wells says. "The communication system is dead. I went to the roof, a dozen panels are missing. Heat fried the wires." I was going to have to tell them.

"Wait, guys. I have to tell you something. I have a chip that will rewire the communication system," I told them, searching in my pockets.

"That isn't funny, Payte," Clarke said. I shook my head. My hands fumbled within my pocket. It had to be there. It had to be, but it wasn't.

"No. No. No. I had it. It fell out of my pocket." I was freaking out. "When I got the designs of the capsule showed to me, I knew that the wires would fry, so I designed my own chip. It would rewire the whole system, and we would be in contact with the Ark. It must have fell out of my pocket. Oh my god. I'm going to throw up again. Where did it go?" I took off my entire jacket, searching every nook. I knew I put it in there.

"Calm down, Payte. All that matters right now is getting to Mount Weather. We will worry about communications later," she consoled me, but I felt like I had failed, not only them but myself. "Okay this is us and this is where we need to go." She drew a line in between.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Wells asked. She looked up at him with hardened features. I swear, he was the smoothest guy ever. "Oh your father." A guy heard it too and decided to join us.

"Oh cool a map. If we get a bar in this town, I'll buy you a beer," he said. He was so tall and awkward. The boy wore goggles on his head. He was about as much harm as a fly, but Wells thought differently. I thought he was probably doing it in Clarke's honor.

"You mind?" Wells asked.

"Wells, stop," I said, but someone caught his attention first.

"Woah, hands off of him. He's with us," a guy with a large posse said. I thought I had heard someone say his name was Murphy. He looked angry, all the time.

"Chill out, dude," I said, standing beside Clarke and Wells. That took him back a little.

"We are just trying to figure out where we are," Wells explained. Of course big, bad Bellamy had to butt in.

"We are on the ground. Is that not good enough for you?" he asked with his sister by his side. Wells looked back at Clarke and I then turned to him. I couldn't let this kid get in a fight, not now. So I stepped in front of him, pushing him back a little to Clarke.

"Look, we need to get to Mount Weather so that we actually have food. A lot of us need to go, to get the supplies while others build a camp," I said. It looked like they might have listened to me until Wells butted in.

"Yeah you heard my father's message. That has to be our first priority," he said. I lowered my head into my hands. Why did he bring his father up? It wasn't like he was a hero to these people.

"Screw your father," Octavia retorted. "Do you think you are in charge here? You, the princess, and the hacker." I look at her, almost taken away by the terrible insult.

"Was that suppose to be an insult, because that is literally what I am," I looked at her and her brother. I didn't think I was intended to respond, but it put a smile on Bellamy's face when I did. Hmm.

"Do you think we really care about whose in charge?" Clarke asked. I furrowed my eyebrows. Uh yeah. We should being caring about that. We should be caring a lot about that for a matter of fact. If the wrong person took over this camp, I was pretty sure that the three of us would be banished or worse killed first. "We need to get to Mount Weather. Not because the chancellor said so, but because the longer we wait, the hungrier we'll get and the harder this will be. How long do you think we will last without those supplies?" She had a really good point, but it wasn't convincing those people. Neither was the fact that she suggested we all go to get the supplies. I was right after all.

"I got a better idea. You three go. Find it for us. Let the privileged do the hard work for a change." Bellamy said. He was trying to be the leader.

"Oh yeah and what are you going to do, huh? Sit around here, dancing, yelling, have a good ole time? You want to be the leader, the hero, but you won't come with us to help your people. That's definitely a real leader, Bellamy. One so overcome with revenge you are only hurting yourself and your people, not us. On the ground, there is no social classes. No one is better than the other. The sooner you stop being a prick, the sooner we can get this camp functioning." He was surprised by my outburst along with every other person listening. "Or you know be a tit and stay here. Your call." He shook his head.

"Someone's got to stay here and look after the camp," he replied.

"You aren't listening. We all need to go." Freaking Wells. I swore I could keep my mouth shut better than him.

"Oh look at this everybody. The chancellor of Earth," Murphy said, pushing Wells around. I had my hands on his back, keeping him steady.

"You think that's funny?" he asked.

"Shut up, Wells." I couldn't stop him as his leg was flung out from under him. He fell to the ground, taking me with him. I hit my face against the ground, taking me back to this morning. Blood trickled from the same spot. The impact reopened the wound. Scooting backwards as fast as I could, I tried to stay out of their way.

"No, but that was," Murphy responded with a small laugh. I tried to stand up, but I was to dizzy to keep my balance. I fell backwards, landing in someone's arms. Looking up, Bellamy's face came in view. He sat me back on the ground to watch it all play out. Dick. "Alright," he continued as Wells got to his feet, his arms raised in a fighting postion. They were a foot from each other, moving their arms but never striking.

Wells was getting ready to throw a punch when Finn dropped from the capsule. He stood in between the two as a barrier. He was like a crime stopping spider monkey, jumping down like that.

"Kid's got one leg. How about you wait until it's a fair fight. And if I ever see you involve a woman in a fight again, we'll have a go ourselves," Finn said, sternly. Murphy watched him, turning away slightly.

"Hey space walker, rescue me next," Octavia said walking around me. I rolled my eyes as dramatically as possible. I put my hands on the ground beside me and started to get up. Hands went under my arms and helped me from the ground. I knew who it was by their touch. His hands were rough but was gentle picking me up.

He leaned down to my ear once I was up and standing. "I don't have to be a hero to be their leader. I just have to let them do whatever the hell they want." His hand lingered on my body before he walked over to his sister. I was a little disgusted and a little turned on. No, kidding. To set things straight, I was disgusted, not turned on.

"I don't know how you are going to get volunteers now. They are all listening to him," I said as I got to the other two. " Is your leg okay, Wells?" He simply nodded. Clarke was trying to straighten it out to see the damage. Wells winced in pain.

"So Mount Weather. When do we leave?" Finn asked. Clarke stood and motioned for me to continue with her work on Wells. I squatted down beside him, slowly turning his leg to the left and right.

"Right now," she stated. I was still working on his leg when she turned around to Wells and me. "We'll be back tomorrow with food."

"How are the two of you going to carry enough food for a hundred?"

"Three." I added. Finn turned around and placed his hands on two guys. All three of them faced us again.

"The five of us." He shrugged. The two guys were from before the argument with Murphy. One look confused while the other was looking at Clarke.

"Sounds like a party. Make it six," Octavia said, making her way over to our small circle. Bellamy was right behind her, his hand grabbing her arm.

"What do you think you are doing?" he asked. She jerked her shoulder away from his grasp and replied.

"Going for a walk." I lowered my eyes, trying to avoid eye contact with Bellamy as he looked at us in disbelief. I could feel his eyes on me, so I put my eyes on someone else. I looked Finn up, not in a sexual way. I was studying him. He was attractive I guess, but that wasn't the reason for my studying. There was a large scratch on his wristband from another metal object. He had been trying to take it off. Nudging Clarke, I pointed it out.

"Have you been trying to take this off?" She was already up on him, examining his wristband. She looked at him with confusion, like how could you be so dumb confusion.

"Yeah, so?" he asked in return.

"So this is what transmits your vital signs to the Ark. Do you want them to think you are dead?" She was taking this personally. "Do you want the people you love to think you are dead? Do you want them to follow you down here in two months. Well they won't if you take off that wristband," she explained. I liked that girl. She was a leader, someone I'd follow. She always was thinking about what was right and just, but she also knew how to create tension.

"Okay," I dragged out, feeling awkward. "That's enough seriousness for right now. Come on. Let's go." Clarke looked over at me and nodded.

"Can you lead them down to the cliff? I'll be right there," she said.

"Sure," I replied. The three boys took off in the direction I pointed while I waited. I was watching Bellamy. His sister looked at him with hopeful eyes. He nodded his head then he looked up to see me watching.

"You coming, Octavia?" I asked. Her eyes light up, knowing she was welcomed, but she was trying to hide it.

"Hell yeah," she said, walking over to me. I put my arm around her shoulder, and we started to follow the boys. I tried to resist it, but I couldn't help but look back. I could feel him staring at me. Turning my head, I caught his eye. His face had softened tremendously compared to the rigid look he constantly wore.

"Take care of her," he mouthed. I pressed my lips together and nodded before turning around to his sister.

"Let's go get some food," I said. A smile emerged on her face as we set off.

The boys came in view as we followed our path we found this morning. They were looking out to the peak of Mount Weather. There was a twenty mile journey in a forest filled with God only knows what between us and the food that we desperately needed. We could die if there was excess amounts of radiation, or maybe we would be killed by a creature who lived in the forest, that is if there is any animals left. I was nervous. I was scared. I had volunteered to do this. How stupid was I? There was a huge possibility that none of us would ever make it to Mount Weather. Why did I agree to protect Octavia when I don't know if I can't protect myself?

"Okay. We need to start if we are going to get there by nightfall," Clarke said, making her way to the front of the group. "I'll lead. Payte, wanna bring up the back?" I nodded and waited for everyone to go. Then she started, a little fast for my likings to be honest, but I managed.

The forest became thicker and harder to maneuver through. Fallen logs and long vines or plants would trip us up every now and then. I kept my eye on Octavia, knowing that if I brought her back with even a scratch I wouldn't have to worry about the radiation killing me, Bellamy would do the honors.

"How long does it take to go twenty miles?" Jasper, the boy with the goggles, asked. We were had found a patch of gorgeous flowers, and we were walking through.

"More than thirty minutes," his friend, Monty replied. I laughed. It was taking forever, and my legs were already sore. We didn't do a lot of physical activity in our cells back home. I was in pain, but I would have rather laughed than cried. I still walked, walked right into the boys in fact. They had stopped right in middle of the path. I looked up from the ground, about to yell at them when I saw why they had stopped.

"That is game," Jasper whispered to Monty. We were all watching Finn. He was putting one of the purple flowers in her hair. I smiled. It was about time she got some positive attention.

"That, my friend, is poison sumac," Monty said. Octavia had overheard him, quickly swatting the flower out of her hair. I laughed and pushed him.

"It's okay. The flowers aren't poisonous," I told her, picking up the flower.

"Right. They are medicinal, calming actually. How'd you know that?" he asked. I smirked with pride.

"I know a little about everything, and I took Botany 101 in school," I told him. He was impressed at my knowledge.

"You are so hot," Jasper said. I gave him a glare that made him step back. "Never mind." Clarke looked back at us then. She had kept walking when we stopped, and it didn't seem like she was too pleased with our slow pace.

"Guys, can you pick up the pace?" she asked. I was thankful for the stop. Though it wasn't long, some of the pain in my legs were easing away.

"How do you do it Clarke?" Finn asked. "How do you just block it all out?'' We were all huddled in a small pack, looking at her. I knew we had to get the supplies, but we also had to make sure we didn't die of a heat stroke.

"It's simple. I wonder why we haven't seen any animals. Maybe it's because there are none. Maybe we have already been exposed to enough radiation to kill us. Sure is pretty though," she said.

"At least we'll die in a pretty place than in a metal box," I spoke. "I'd rather be here than there." The others agreed. The Skybox had been hell, and right then Earth was heaven, a potentially annihilating heaven.

Clarke ignored my comment, hiking further in the forest. We watched her go on, reluctant to follow, but we did.

"Someone should slip her some poison sumac," Octavia said, causing Jasper to laugh. It wasn't a normal laugh either. It was small, constant snorts. I shook my head, laughing myself.

"Come on," I said, pulling him along.

We continued, trailing behind Clarke and keeping to ourselves. I guess Finn thought we needed a conversation starter, because he turned around and asked what Monty and Jasper did to get locked up. Apparently, they had stolen some herbs from the garden that Monty's family was over and forgot to replace them.

"How about you, Octavia? What did they get you for?" Jasper asked. He reminded me of Wells in the way that neither of them knew when it was beneficial not to talk or what not to talk about. She never looked back, but you could feel the tension in the air.

"Being born," she replied. Jasper's smile dropped the second she quickened her pace and left us. Everyone had heard about her case, except for Jasper apparently. She was not suppose to be alive. Each family on the Ark was allowed one child. If you got pregnant, you either got rid of the baby or you faced being floated. Risking her life and the child's, Octavia's mother had her and hid her under the floor. It was all going well until last year when she was discovered. She had been locked in her family's room for sixteen years by then. They locked her up, an innocent girl who couldn't help that her mother broke the law to have her, and they floated her mother. I felt bad for her. She didn't deserve the life she was forced in to.

Up ahead, Clarke had stopped and crouched down to the ground. Octavia was by her side, neither moving. What was happening? I looked over at Finn then went over to the girls, crouching down beside them. The boys silently stood behind us. Clarke, realizing we were all there, pointed forward out into a meadow. What I saw almost took my breath away.

It was a deer. A real life, living animal stood in front of us. It was eating the grass around it. This was the first time that any of us had ever saw one. I had read about them in a book once, but it was surreal to see it before your own eyes. The ways its neck sloped as it ate, and the way its white tail hung loosely from it's back. Its antlers were large. They pointed sharply at the ends.

"No animals, huh?" Finn raised slowly. His feet silently moved forward toward the animal in front of us. He kept moving towards the deer until he stepped on a twig, snapping it in half. It was a small noise that was barely audible, but the deer heard it. It raised up then looked towards up. It took my breath away again, but this time it was in fear.

The deer's face, or faces, was managed. The eye on it's right side was conjoined with a smaller, drooping eye. It's second face was smaller, more damaged and raw. The tongue was hanging out of its mouth on the right side. The sight alone was scary, but the noise it made sent a chill down my spine. I hid my face in Jasper's jacket, not looking back up until I heard it run off. The others didn't hide, but they jumped. I felt embarrassed that I was the only one to turn away.

"We need to go," Finn said. He walked around me and down the path. That time even Clarke had to catch up.

"Radiation must have mutated it," I said, pulling my pants up higher on my hips. They had been slipping down with every step I took. "I wonder how many other animals are like that."

"You know what I wonder?" Finn asked. At least thirty minutes had passed since anyone had spoken. It seemed like we were all in our own world, thinking about our fate and the secrets of Earth.

"What?" Monty asked. He was behind me with Jasper and Clarke.

"I wonder why they sent us down today. After all these years, hovering around on the Ark, what changed?" He continued.

"The Ark is dying," Clarke stated. She had no emotions what so ever that I could detect. This hit home with her. I kept walking, following the path. I already knew that. It wasn’t new news. "With the current population level there is about three months of oxygen left. Probably four since we are gone."

"Payte, what are you still going. Aren’t you surprised?" Octavia asked me. I stopped and shook my head.

"No, because I already knew."

"You already knew? There is no way that you could have known," Clarke replied. My legs were still aching, so I sat down on a log.

"I didn’t just break into the security system. I broke through the Ark’s firewall. I’m actually pretty proud of that, to be honest. Anyways, there was the results from the system check. I kept up with how long we had until I found the plans that would send us to Earth. I had to go if it meant providing air for more people, and well, I really wanted to see Earth. Therefore, I got myself arrested, and now I am here. So yeah," I explained. It was true. The council wasn’t as protected as they thought. "I’m sorry, Clarke. They were wrong to float your dad for that. The public needed to know, but no one would believe me. Getting here was the only beneficial thing I knew to do then. At least it would give them some time."

"That’s why they floated your dad?" Finn asked.

"Dad was the chief engineer then. He found the flaw, and he wanted to go public with it. The council refused. Even my mother thought it was a bad idea. They thought it would cause panic, chaos, and they didn’t need anything else to deal with. Dad and I were going to continue with it and tell the public, but that’s when they showed up. He threw my father under the bus. I thought I could trust him." Clarke was trying to suppress her feelings, but you could see it on her face now. She was a mess on the inside.

"Wells? He turned in your dad?" Finn asked. I couldn’t comprehend why he would do that? The way he looked at her and the way he protected her showed how much he loved her. I could see it. Wells was a loyal guy, and it wouldn’t be like him to go against something she said.

"Yeah. So that’s why today. They got rid of some of the population, buying time for themselves."

"More people are going to die," Monty said. "They’ll keep reducing the population." I didn’t answer. I hadn’t really thought all that through. Hopefully, they would realize that Earth was sustainable before they killed anyone else.

"Good. I hope they all die after what they did to me," Octavia said, walking around me. Jasper followed her like a lost puppy.

"You don’t mean that," he said from behind her. I turned around and followed them. I wasn’t about to let him go off with her. She was my responsibility on the trip. I put my hands in my pockets and watched my feet move against the Earth. Looking up, I saw something that literally terrified me. Octavia was undressing herself on a rock near water.

"Octavia, what are you doing?" I asked, watching her carefully. I could hear Jasper beside me, breathing like Darth Vader as she pulled her pants down. She looked back at me, easing towards the edge. "No, the water could be acidic. It could burn your skin-" It was too late. She jumped in the water, and my hands slammed over my mouth. Oh my god. I was dead if she was dead.

I ran over to the rock, searching the water for anything, but I only saw stagnant water. The spot she had jumped into had already settled. I was dead. She couldn’t swim. I couldn’t swim. We were all screwed. I finally could breathe again when I saw her head emerge from the water. I bent over, placing my hands on my knees.

"You could have died," I choked out.

"Shut up. You sound like Bellamy," she said. I stopped and looked at her. That’s when I realized that I had to let her have fun. Yeah, I would protect her, but I couldn’t and wouldn’t dictate her life. She had enough of that already.

"Would Bellamy do this?" I asked, hurrying to take off my pants and top. Looking back at the others, I asked, "Are you coming?" Smiles appeared on their faces, and they started to remove their clothes. I wasn’t going to wait on them, I jumped in.

"No, never," she laughed, splashing me with water. The water felt good on my skin, and the mud felt good between my toes, making it almost impossible not to smile. The world was good. Life was better.

I splashed her back, not thinking about anything else, not thinking about the Ark or the camp, not even thinking about the radiation that could be seeping into my lungs. I was having the most fun I'd ever had. Water flew through the air, and I was caught up in the moment. I only began to think when they began to yell.

"Get out of the water. Get out of the water now," Jasper said. I gave him a confused look and followed his gaze out. The water was rippling. Something was coming towards us. My eyes bulged. I felt them strain in my sockets. I barely had a moment to think about it before I started pushing Octavia to the rock.

"Get her up now. Pull her up," I yelled. I was standing there, a broad support, trying to lift her up to them.

"Ow!" she yelled. I couldn’t tell what had happened, but I knew it would be better than the wounds the creature would have inflicted on her.

"Get her up n-," my words stopped, I stopped, even time stopped for a second. I wasn’t ready for the impact that it had. It hit my body so hard that the little breath I did have was gone. I tried struggling, throwing my hands up and wiggling to get loose, but its grip on my leg was too tight. It was dragging me under, taking me out into deeper waters. I couldn’t breathe. Maybe I would die from air deprivation after all. It brought me above the surface for a split second, just enough time to get a breath of air. Now, I couldn’t die. I wasn’t going to die. I had spent too much of my time trying to get here. I went through months of solitary to get here, and I was not going to let myself die the first day I got to the place I’ve dreamed about since I was a little girl. Thrashing, I struck the creature, loosening its grip, and I took advantage of that. I struck it again and almost got away, but it clamped down hard on my leg. I heard something fall into the water, it echoing below the surface. I prayed it wasn’t Octavia being reckless, but whatever it was caught the creature’s attention. It let go of me and started for the object. Even though I was free, I was in the deep end, I couldn’t swim, and I was loosing the air that my lungs held. I was sinking. It was a scary feeling, feeling the air start to drain from your lungs. Fortunately, as my thoughts and consciousness began to fade away, hands grabbed me, pulling me towards the surface. My head came through the water, and the wind hit my face. Water began flowing out of my mouth. I had swallowed some and could only imagine what was in it. However, I could now breathe.

"Hurry. It’s coming back," someone yelled. I couldn’t see who had saved me since they turned me on my side and let me cough up the water.

"Payte, are you okay?" Octavia asked, bending down next to me. She had a tear in her eye and a gash on her cheek. Her tears and blood had mixed and was sliding down her chin. That’s where she must have hit when I got her out. I nodded,

"Yeah, just peachy," I said as my lungs began to recover. "Stop crying it’s okay."

"You saved my life," she said, wiping the bloody water away from her face.

"That’s what friends do," I said. I looked down, feeling an ache in my leg. The creature had lacerated my leg with its bite. The wounds were deep, bleeding and showing flesh that people were never intended to see. I held my hands in front of my face covering my view of the wounds. 

"Okay, can someone fix me?"

"Okay, okay," Clarke whispered, rushing to my side. She reached over me and grabbed Jasper’s soaking shirt, ripping the material. Jasper was the one that saved me? The scrawny, awkward, goggle wearing dork? I didn’t even care. I was thankful that he saved me.

"Thank you, Jasper. Thank you so much," I said, breathing heavily as the shirt was tied around my leg. It would create enough pressure to stop the bleeding.

"Thankful enough to give me a kiss?" he asked.

"I wouldn’t go that far, Buddy, " I replied. I patted his cheek, lying back down. I was getting tired, my eyes becoming heavy. It wasn’t long before my world turned black.

The world was still black when I opened my eyes again, but now the night was alive. I was laid up against a tree, surrounded by grass. It didn't matter where I was or how I got there. Nothing mattered besides the sight in front of me. Vibrant colors of blue and green shimmered in the moonlight. The plants on the trees radiated as I gazed upon them. A blue mist covered the forest, seeming to illuminate the air. It was surreal, more beautiful than anything on the Ark. The world, in those moments, was beautiful.

Someone pressed against my back, cuddled into me for warmth. I sat up and looked who it was, the boy who saved me. Next to him were Octavia and Monty. She was pressed into Jasper, her arm wrapped around him, her hand interlocked with his. Monty, on the other hand, was sprawled out on the ground, his mouth hanging open, and his arm covering his eyes. They were all sound asleep.

I stood up, wincing from the pain in my leg. With every step, I drug my injured limb. I took a step forward and heard a groan. The absence of my body, which acted as a wall for the others, sent Jasper rolling and Octavia following. She ended up on top of him, rubbing her head as she jerked up. Miraculously, Jasper didn't stir.

"Shh." I pressed my finger to my lip, and she gave me a look of confusion. I hadn't wanted to wake her, let alone anyone else. I pointed out at the glowing night life, receiving a gasp from her. She was mesmerized at the painted world in front of her. She examined every inch of the picture, up and down, side to side. I couldn't help but follow her gazes.

Trees stood tall, rooted deep into the Earth's rich soil, glowing plants and organisms sprouting from their trunks. Bushes and tall grass was painted blue with specks of green. It was like someone had flicked paint onto the leaves. As I moved closer, the plants almost turned white.

"Did radiation do this?" she asked, earning a simple nod. I didn't know if she could see my head, so I told her that it had while I lifted my hand to the nearest plant. I hoped it would come off onto my hand so that I could see this beauty for the rest of my life, but it stayed intact.

"It's amazing, isn't it? " I wiped my hands on my shirt. "I guess some of the most beautiful things are birthed from the worst decisions." That seemed to make her smile. I think it may have hit close to her own situation. I sat down on the ground, the grass tickling my bare legs. "You and your brother are close, huh?"

I had always wondered what it would be like to have a brother or sister. On the Ark, it was just my mother, father and me, but when Mom was floated for stealing a new shirt for me for Christmas, Dad turned to drinking. He became a verbally abusive drunk who blamed me for everything that went wrong. I wondered then if he even cared that I was gone, possibly dead for all he knew.

"Yeah, we are. He's been my only friend my entire life. He practically raised me while our mother slept around to keep me fed. Even though he never said it, I knew I was his burden. I could see it every time he had to stay in with me instead of go out with his friends. He always had to protect me, he still is, and I am still his burden. The only reason he is here is because of me. He isn't as bad of a person as it seems, Payte. He is just hurt, and now he is just trying to impress the others. We've always been the lesser persons, but here they look up to him. Yeah, sometime he's a complete dick, but deep inside, he is a better person than most." I looked up at her lost for words. The tension was thick now. She knew I didn't like him and that the feelings were mutual for him too. I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything at all. We could both feel the awkwardness in the air now. That was why we returned back to the camp, repositioning ourselves. We rolled Jasper back over, and Octavia smiled at me before she wrapped herself around him again.

"Hey, Payte," I heard Octavia whisper.

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to let you know that Bellamy isn't my only friend anymore." Her words sent a smile to my face. Coming to Earth not only let me explore a new world, it let me come together with new people, new friends.


	2. Bleeding Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke, Payte, Octavia, Finn, Jasper, and Monty continue their quest for Mount Weather until an unexpected injury occurs.

Chapter 2 

The next day, our second on Earth, brought many new adventures. We rose with the sun, hoping to reach the mountain by nightfall. We weren't half way, so we had a lot of ground to cover by then. That meant a lot of walking which was a hastle with my leg since we rarely stopped. The pain got worse the futher we walked. It was constantly there, and it seemed to be the only thing on my mind. What made it worse was the bareness of my lower half. I couldn't wear my jeans because the tight fabric rubbed my tender leg, so I walked in my black boycuts. At points, my bareness was detrimental. I recieved small cuts and pricks from the grown up forest, but the blackberry bush Clarke made us go through was the worst. The briars scratched my legs, the thorns sticking in me. Those superficial wounds were forgotten when we found the blackberries. All the complaining even stopped when we found the ripe fruit, but when it was gone, the complaining started again. We were hot. We were tired, and, we were hurting, some more than others.

"Listen," Clarke said. "The animals probably made this path, so I think if we follow it, we will find water. When we do, we can rest for a little bit." I hoped she was right. My leg had been bad before but at that moment, the pain was almost unbearable. I wasn't made to deal with pain. That was for sure.

Thankfully, Clarke had been right. The path didn't lead us to a small body of water, it lead us to a river. It wasn't huge, but it was bigger than the creek we went through the day before. That terrified me. If a huge snake was in the creek, I could only imagine what swam in that river.

"How are we going to cross?" Monty asked. I was wondering the same thing. The water was too deep, and none of us could swim. Even if it wasn't deep, I didn't think I could force myself to get in. After what happened the previous day, I was done with water.

"Do you think a vine could hold us?" Octavia asked.

"It depends on how strong it is," I replied.

"What about that one?" She pointed up. Wrapped around a tree limb was a thick vine, hanging down enough for Finn to reach it. Jasper went with him up to the highest rock to retrieve the vine.

"Do you think it will hold us?" he asked, pulling on it.

"Well, it looks like it could. Even if it doesn’t, do we have another option?" I said. He looked blankly at the vine, continuing to pull on it.

"Well I guess I’ll go first." Finn said, continuing to pull on the vine. That went on for some time. Just the two of them on the rock, yanking a vine to "test its strength".

"Could you hurry up?" I ask, propping my hand on my hip. I was hungry and wanted to get this over with. If the map was correct, we were about half way to the mountain.

"Yeah, Finn. Quit stalling," Clarke added. He smiled down at her, pulling the vine again. He looked over to Jasper, who was telling him about the apogee.

"See you on the other side," Finn told us, walking back to the edge of the rock he was standing on. I looked over to Octavia, who was staring up Finn, admiring his bravery. Jasper noticed it too. That was the reason he stopped Finn before he jumped, I thought.

"Wait. Let me," Jasper said. Finn was shocked but handed him the vine anyways and backed up. I was proud of Jasper. He had gained everyone's respect and Octavia's attention.

"I knew there was a badass some where in there," Finn said, patting Jasper's back. He moved back again, making room for Jasper, but Jasper didn't just run and jump right away. He stood there, looking out over the river. It looked like he was regretting his decision. Finn looked down to us and then back up to Jasper. He walked over to him and whispered something in his ear. I squinted my eyes as they both looked down at all of us. No matter that, whatever he said clearly motivated Jasper. Jumping in place a few times, he inhaled deeply.

"See you on the other side," he said with a nervous laugh. We laughed with him. We were also nervous. Well, atleast I was. I was afraid the rope wasn't going to hold and he would fall in the water. My nervousness spiked when he walked back and took a running jump. I gasped, watching carefully as he flew from the rock. His legs were curled up as he swung over the water. He yelled in excitement as he swung, but the swinging didn't last long. His hands slipped from the vine and down he went. My breath caught in my throat as he fell. However, he didn't land in the water. That would have been the worse scenario. Thankfully, he landed on a pile of logs. I could have sworn that he had broke his leg by the position he fell in. It wasn't ideal. Breaking his leg would have been a serious hastle, but it was better than him drowning.

"Jasper," I yelled out, hurrying to the lowest rock while the others followed behind. I prayed he would be okay, hoping that I wouldn't have to carry him back to camp. I knew that was bad to think, but it was the only thing going through my head. Thankfully, my prayers were answered, and Jasper quickly got to his feet, yelling and dancing. So his leg wasn't broke. That was a good thing.

"We are Apogee!" He bellowed out with his hands cupped around his mouth. It was an exciting moment. That was all that was needed to start the cheering. I cheered until my lungs hurt, well hurt more than usual. Octavia, who stood beside me, was jumping and throwing her hand in the air. We were all excited. We were caught up in the moment. Maybe we were too caught up.

"Come on, Clarke!" Jasper yelled to her. "Apogee!" She just laughed at him as she climbed with Finn to the highest rock. I was paying little attention to them as I watched Jasper celebrate. He had quit dancing and was searching for something as if something caught his eye. Bending down, he picked up a large piece of metal that had outlasted the ninety seven years of weather. He cleaned and examined it, a smile creeping onto his face. His eyes went from the metal to us then back to the metal, turning it around so we could see what it said. A wave of enthusiasm fell over us again, and we went back to cheering. We had made it.

The sign, with block letters, clearly spelled out Mount Weather. We were so close that my mouth began to water at the thought of the food. Jasper held the sign with a sense of pride until the spear was thrown, impaling his chest and drilling him all back into the rock. I stopped in my tracks, paralysed with fear.

The earth was still the same. The birds were still cherping, the water was still running downstream, the sun was still shining down on us. Nothing had changed except the fact Jasper had just been killed. It might not have had an effect on our surroundings, but it had an effect on me. I broke down where I stood, sobbing uncontrollably. I couldn't process it. One second we are cheering, and Jasper is alive. The next, we are breaking down because he had a spear purtruding from his chest. I felt weak, my knees shaking. I thought I was going to pass out. Octavia, just as broken as I was, was keeping me up, tightly hugging me. I tried to shield her, but there was too many spots for attack. We had to atleast get behind something for a hint of protection.

"Get down," Finn yelled to us. He grabbed my hand and pulled us to him. He pulled us behind a rock, and we sunk down. I peered over the rock, trying to stop my quivering jaw. I felt weak, even vulnerable, but my body was overcome with fear. Watching your friend get impaled by a spear does something to you. It breaks you, and I knew I wasn't the only broken one at the moment. Clarke's eyes were wide. I could see the fear in them. Monty was beside me, chanting that this couldn't be happening. Then there was Octavia. She was gripping my shirt as she looked over the rock into the woods.

'Crunch. Snap.' Octavia and I both jumped as something walked around in the forest. Whatever it was, whoever it was, was still there, stalking us. I tried to quiten my heavy breathing. I stopped breathing all together actually, only taking a breath when absolutley nessessary. My composure was coming back.

"We're not alone," said Clarke, dramatically. I gave her the look I gave people when they said something really obvious and or stupid.

"Uh no shit," I replied. We weren't on a soap opera. It was no time to be so dramatic about something we already knew. However, it was time for us to get the hell out of there. She looked at me, and I confidently held our gaze. " I'm sorry, Clarke." I was regaining the strength in my voice. "But we have to go if we want to live. We have to go tell the others. They need to be prepared." My tears had stopped, but I still felt empty inside. However, I knew I had to be strong. Not for me but for Octavia. There was no time for being weak, not anymore. It was time to act, to lead.

"She's right." Finn spoke up. He stood up, helping Clarke up too. I followed behind him and held out a hand for Octavia. She took it, and we took the lead. Monty quickly followed the four of us. All of us were running, hoping if we could do anything it would be out run whatever killed Jasper. We were running as fast as our lungs and legs would take us. For me, it wasn't very fast. Pain shot through my entire body but especially in my leg. When it became too intense, I slowed my pace until the pain ceased and then started running again. My lungs weren't equipted for the running either. They burned with every breath I took. The combined pain was excruciating.

Before we could get any futher, Monty lost his footing and fell to the ground in front of me. Octavia and I rushed to his side, urging him to stand, but I was almost thankful he fell. It gave my lungs time to recover. Unfortunatley, it gave whatever was out there to possibly get us. A win lose situation.

"Come on, Monty. We need to get up now." Octavia pleaded with him while we tried to lift him. Neither one of us had any extra body stength after running, so he didn't get up. I rolled my eyes and bent down to get a better grip, and that's when I saw them. The ribcage that laid inches from Monty's nose were different than normal human bones. I had never seen anything like them in my anatomy books. They were dark, almost black, lying on the ground, and it wasn't just the ribcage. There were black bones filling the entire perimeter. There were entire skeletons scattered between the trees. It was creepy, to say the least. That was why when Monty got up, we backed away from the piles.

"What the hell?" I asked. My breathing was becoming heavy again, but this time, it wasn't because I was tired. I was creeped out and a little scared.

"Who are they?" Finn asked as Clarke walked in front of him. She was inching closer to the bones. I don't know what she was on because you would have had to drugged me to pick one of them up. Examining, she held it in her hands.

"What are they?" she responded, turning the bone towards us. It was a skull. No, not just a black skull. It was a deformed, black skull.

"We are screwed. So screwed," Octavia pointed out. I had to agree with her. We were kind of screwed, but I didn't voice my opinion. Instead, I walked to Clarke, to the skull. I was creeped out, yes, but I was also quite interested. I held out my hand and ran my fingers over the brow bone. I wondered what was lurking in those woods, but all the wondering stopped when a scream echoed through the forest. Clarke and I made eye contact as if we were contemplating to just take off.

"Jasper," I whispered.

"Jasper," she replied.

"Oh my gosh. Jasper!" My voice became louder. He was alive, and I was going to save him. I removed my hand from the skull and started running towards where we came from, avoiding stepping on the black bones at all costs.

Footsteps fell hard behind me as I ran back to the river. Clarke was right on my heels the entire time. We weren't going to wait for the rest of them. Atleast, I wasn't. I didn't care. My lungs could burn all they wanted to. My leg could ache for the rest of my life. I was going to save him. I had to repay my debt.

"Payte, wait," Clarke said before I stepped out onto the rock we had been on. "We are going to have to stay in the trees." I knew she was right. We couldn't save Jasper if we were dead. We were going to have to be sly, but we were going to have to find him first.

The spot where he had been was no longer filled. It was empty with the flowers and plants crushed from where he had been laying. Whatever shot him took him. The thoughts entering my mind about the things they might do to him terrified me, but we couldn't go after him. We needed to go back to camp to get reenforcements and supplies. The lack of those two things would be detrimental. We had no weapons defend ourselves with besides a sharped down stick that I had made that morning. Woo! That would definetley help kill whatever took Jasper.

So that's what we did. That was what we had to do if we were going to save Jasper and ourselves. Most of the hours were spent running, so when we were less than a quarter of a mile away from camp, Monty, Octavia, and I slowed to a walk. Clarke and Finn were in front of us, continuing to rush to the camp. I knew the situation was urgent, but I didn't know what would happen if I pushed my body anymore. I was exahuasted. My leg throbbed with every move of my muscles. All I could think about was sitting down for a little while, but those thoughts were interupted by Clarke screaming Well's name. The worst started to fill my head. They had killed him. I just knew they did. That sent me running again, ignoring the burning of my lungs, the ache of my body. Thankfully, I made it to the edge of the hill and saw that Wells was alive, holding a knife to Murphey's throat. That relieved me.

Octavia had been right behind me the entire time, so when we got to the edge, she wrapped her arm around me for mutual support. Monty came to my other side, trying to balance us out. As we moved down the hill, I kept my eyes on the ground as others view my body, my bare legs. It wasn't just their violating gazes that kept me from looking ahead. I didn't want to come eye to eye with Bellamy, who I had saw was in the middle of the valley.

"Octavia!" Bellamy called out. He ripped her away from me, almost causing Monty and me to fall. However, that was the least of my worries. I could feel my heart beating hard in my ribcage. It shot through every inch of me with every beat. I was afraid that in the silence of the valley, the others could even hear it as Bellamy looked at his sister's facial wound. I was almost definate that they could when he turned to me with rage in his eyes.

"You told me you would protect her. You promised," he yelled to me. I could feel the anger rising in me with every syllable that came out of his mouth. He didn't know what had gone on. I had protected her. I protected her with my life. The anger was building, bubbling inside me until I couldn't contain it anymore. The second he got in my face, I lost it. The anger poured out of me, leaking from my eyes, and I pushed him back hard. He hadn't expected it since he almost fell with the force.

"I kept my promise, you oblivious, dumbass. You should be thanking me that she only has a cut," I yelled, pushing him back again. I limped forward and poked my finger harshly against his chest. From the corner of my eye, I saw Murphy start for us. I swiftly turned to him, glaring. "If you come any to me, I will not think twice about killing you. I turn back to Bellamy, getting in his face while a tear runs down my own. "And I don't have to explain myself to you. If you wanted to make sure she was safe then you should have gone instead of being a coward. And let's get something else clear. If you ever and I mean ever, get in my face like that again, I will kill you. So, excuse me while I go get ready to save my friend." I bump his shoulder as I pass, knocking him back again.

"Holy shit," I heard from the crowd of kids crowded on the hill. I limped over to them and looked up.

"Would someone like to help me up?" Two boys, probably eighteen, hurried down the hill and helped me up the slope.

"She saved my life, Bell. She almost got killed, and that's how you treat her, my best friend. You are a dick," Octavia told him. At that point, I was up at on solid ground, so I turned back to catch Bellamy's eye. He looked shocked and angry, both giving me a little satisfaction. I looked down at him and then turned around, waiting on Octavia to reach me. Once she was at my side, we made our way across the camp into the capsule.

"That no good, arrogant dick," I growled, kicking at the box in my way. Pain shot up my leg, and I fell to the ground, gripping my leg. It wasn't a thoughtout action.

"That was dumb," she chuckled. "I know you are mad, but you need to calm down since you do stupid things when you are mad. Stay there while I get something to clean up your leg with. It's going to get infected if you keep walking around with no pants on." She had a smirk on her face as I lay on my back on the could floor, giving her a defeated look. I closed my eyes and listened to her loud footsteps disappear to the second floor. Minutes later, they reappeared, but I kept my eyes shut.

"I'm sorry I called your brother a dick," I said. I honestly felt bad. He had pissed me off, but he was still her brother, and she loved him. The least I could do was be civil.

"You called me a dick?" Bellamy asked. Of course that would happen. Of course he would show up. He probably wanted to get the last word of our arguement. All the anger that had disappeared was rushing back, but I wasn't going to let it show. For Octavia's sake, I was going to be civil.

"Yeah, sorry," I said. I wasn't going to jump down his throat, but I wasn't going to make a grand apology either. Keep it short, keep it simple.

"You don't have to apologize," he replied, looking down at me. It looked as if he was trying to figure out his next sentence. He was struggling. "Payte, I -" Before he could get out his next word, he was interrupted.

"What the hell are you doing here, Bellamy? Come back to yell at her some more?" his sister asked, clearly pissed. I felt terrible since he was being just as civil, if not more, than I was. Her hard expression softened as she looked down to me. Walking over, she got on her knees and untied the tie above my knee. The wound has already been slightly bleeding from all the running, but since the pressure was gone, blood began to flow down my leg. I looked up at Octavia, seeing the fear in her eyes as she caught my gaze. Something was wrong, and if I didn't stop bleeding, I knew I was going to die. The thought caused me to laugh out loud. I was going to die on the cold, steel floor of a dropship on Earth after being drug through the water by huge ass snake. That was one hell of a death. Maybe they would even write about it when the others came down.

"Is she going to be okay?" Bellamy asked. His face had lost some of its color.

"No, she is dying, Bellamy," Octavia replied, trying to tie the wrap back around my leg. It didn't stop the bleeding. By then, her hands were covered in my blood. I could see the desperation in her eyes as she cried out, holding her hands out. She didn't know what to do. She looked up to him, crying. "Go get Clarke. Bellamy, please. Go now. Please." She kept begging even after he left. I watched her as she cried and begged and tried to put as much pressure as possible on my leg.

"Clarke! Where's Clarke?" I heard Bellamy scream outside. "Someone get Clarke. Payte's dying. Hurry!" My breath was becoming heavy, and my head was becoming light. The intense pain in my leg had dissolved and was replaced by numbness. I was peaceful. I had made peace with the terms. I got to spend two days on Earth, and that was pretty amazing, but I was a little relieved when the plasic covering the door was pushed back by Clarke and Bellamy. Her face became pale as she caught sight of me. Finn, Wells, and Monty came in behind them, so I smiled up at them.

"Hello," I said.

"Don't talk. Lay completely still. I need a something clean to put pressure on it, like a cloth. I need someone to go get it now or she is going to bleed out, and it's going to be your fault." Clarke wasted no time, getting down beside me. "Hold her down," she told Wells and Finn, who were already on either side of me.They bent down and held my arms above my head. Their hands held mine down. I looked up, making eye contact with Bellamy, who was standing behind Wells. He had stayed silent the entire time since Clarke came in. We held each other’s gaze for a split second before he turns around and walks out of the capsule. Octavia runs behind him, hollering his name. I closed my eyes and squeezed the boys’ hands while a new pain rushes through me.

"Here." The plastic rustled again and footsteps reentered the capsule. I opened my eyes and see that he was handing Clarke a dripping, wet t-shirt. One of the boys who had died had been wearing it. I remembered seeing him it as I had checked his pulse. She took it, the water dripping onto her arm and running off onto me. I went to look up at Bellamy, to maybe thank him, but he wasn’t there. He was already half way around the plastic. I didn’t know why, but I felt sad. Not because I was dying, but because he didn’t care.

"Octavia, go get her some pants, but not those skin tight ones. She can't be walking around with the material rubbing against her leg. And Monty, I need you to elevate her leg."

"Clarke, I feel like I'm going to pass out," I told her. She shook her head, pressing her blood covered hands harder against my leg.

"No, no, no. You can't," she said, almost pleading. "We can't lose you."

"It's okay. You can handle this without me," I told her as my eyelids became heavy. I smiled up at her, tears in my eyes. "Just tell Octavia I'm sorry for leaving her with all those idiots out there." Clarke kept shaking her head, repeating that I can't, that I have to stay awake. Still smiling, I shook my head. My eyes started to close, slowly, and I heard Clarke yelling at me.

"No, wake up, Payte. Wake up! You have to wake up. I will make it stop!"

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Sorry it's short , and there may be some errors in spelling because I haven't gotten to edit yet. I just wanted to have the second chapter up. Thanks so much. I love you guys!!


	3. The Finding

I had closed my eyes, knowing I was going to die, but when I opened them again, I knew I had beaten the shit out of death. The natural light that leaked through the plastic filled my eyes, and the throbbing pain in my leg made me smile. It finally felt good to be alive. It was an honor to be alive. Sitting up, I realized that I had gained a lot of my strength back. I looked down at my leg from where I was sitting. It was covered by a pair of boys' pants, and there was a bulge on my thigh where a cool, damp rag covered my injury.

"Where is everybody?" I asked myself out loud, searching the room. It was empty. There was no noise coming from within the capsule. I had to get outside, but first, I had to get to my feet. It was harder than it sounded. Turning over on my side and then onto my stomach, I kept my leg off the ground. I had learnt how to army crawl from David back on the Ark, so that's what I did. I kept my leg off the ground, but pushed forward with my foot and then crawled across the capsule to a table. I rolled back to my back and then to a sitting position so that I could get a grip on the table. Pulling myself up, I stumbled a bit. A wave of dizziness hit me from the sudden change, but it went away as fast as it came. I knew I was going to be okay.

The steps between the table and the plastic wasn't as hard as I expected it to be. Since my leg was cleaned and doctored, there was only a slight amount of pain. It was still stiff but not anything I couldn't deal with. Pulling back the plastic, sun filled the capsule. I held my hand above my eyes to block the light and limped out onto the ramp.

"She lives!" I heard some yell. I turned my head to look around the camp. People filled the space, sitting around and talking. Becoming silent, they all turned their attention to me. Their eyes glued to mine. Claps began to fill the camp, and people started to yell my name. A smile became visable on my face.

"I see you are alive and feeling better," Monty said as he walks around me into the capsule.

"Yeah. You can't get rid of my that easy," I replied, laughing. "Have you seen Cl-. Never mind," I stopped. Clarke was walking towards me with Wells following behind her like always.

"What are you doing up? You need to go lie back down and rest. You almost died," she said, pulling a pack onto her shoulder.

"Are you leaving to get Jasper?" I asked. She stayed silent, pulling the pack up again. They were going to leave without me. "I'm going with you."

"No, you're not," she replied. She started to walk down the hill toward Bellamy and Octavia. He was cleaning up the cut on her face. I followed behind them, and when no one was looking, I reached for one of the makeshift knives that were laying out. Looking around, I put it deep in my pocket, and started to follow Clarke again. If we were going to do anything, we needed to be able to protect ourselves.

"Yes, I am, Clarke. My leg is better. And besides, if you don't let me go with you, I will just follow behind you, and you won't even know it," I stated, limping after her. "Jasper saved my life. It's my turn to save his now."

"Can you really do this?" she asked.

"Of course I can," I replied. I watched her as she thought it over.

"Fine. You can go, but if your leg starts bleeding again, I don't know if I can fix it again." I nodded. It was a chance I had to take. I threw my hands in the air in victory and hugged her, but the moment was ruined by Bellamy, of course.

"If you are here for Octavia, she isn't going," he stated. He was looking down at my leg as he spoke with a look of concern.

"The hell I am!"

"The hell you aren't," I interjected. "I can't risk you getting hurt again." I looked over to Bellamy then back to her. "Besides, I need you to do something here for me." She gave me a confused look. I took her hand and guided her away from her brother and Murphy. "What I am telling you is between you and me only, okay?"

"Okay?"

"When we were on the Ark, I made a chip. It's about the size of one of those quarters from our books." I tried to show her how big it is, but that didn't work. " It is very very important. It will reconnect us to the Ark and allow communication, and I have lost it. It was in my jacket pocket when we got in the capsule. Now, I know you aren't a big fan of the Ark. Neither am I, but if we can save innocent lives, we have to let them know that we are alive. We can deal with the council when they get here, but we have to make sure that it isn't just the council that makes it down here. I need you to find it. Please."

"I'll do it," she said.

"Please, you ha-. Wait, you'll do it?" I asked. I was shocked that she agreed so quickly. 

"Yeah. There are a lot of good people up there. They deserve to live," she told me. I threw my arms around her.

"Thank you. You may not be going to get Jasper, but you are doing something much bigger," I said. "Now, we need to get back over to your brother before he kills me."

"I really don't think he wants to kill you," she said, laughing," but you need to get a start on finding Jasper." We let go and walked over to Bellamy and Clarke. They had been watching us the entire time.

"Did she change you mind?" Bellamy asked his sister. She looked at me with a smile and then to him , nodding. He looked pleased with me at the moment. He probably wouldn't have been if he knew what I had her doing, but I let him think what he wanted to. Turning to Clarke, he said," Well, I guess you can go now."

"Actually, I can't because I didn't come for her. I came for you." I was pretty sure that Wells and I shared the same expression of disapproval. Was she crazy? Taking Octavia, yes I understand. Taking her brother, that's like a suicide mission. Wells put his hand on her shoulder and tried to talk to her, but she stepped out of his grasp and ignored him. "I heard you have a gun." He looked at her then me, pulling up his shirt to show us the gun in his waistband and his tanned skin, but I didn't look at his skin. I would never look at his skin and the beginning of the V line. No, I looked at the gun. That's the only thing I looked at. "Good. Now follow me." She started walking towards our path, but I stayed where I was.

"Why would I do that?" he asked, letting his shirt fall back to place. I stepped closer to him.

"I think we had this conversation a few days ago," I replied for Clarke. "These people want a leader who is brave and willing to help and protect them. Right now, you are just telling them what to do. It kind of reminds me of back home. So, if you want these people to follow you, you are going to have to show them that you are someone worth following." It must have gotten to him this time because he looked over to Murphy and told him to come too. I rolled my eyes. Now I had to watch out for two of them then. Bellamy turned back to the stack of logs Octavia had been sitting on and grabbed his jacket.

"Atom, my sister does not leave this camp. Is that clear?" he asked. Atom nodded, looking down at Octavia. I gave Bellamy and him a look of disapproval. The girl was seventeen for goodness sake. She could do things without being watched over.

"I don't need a babysitter," she argued. Trying to make it better, I walked over and bent down to her ear.

"Don't think of it as him being your babysitter. Think of it as a super hot guy paying attention to only you for the time being," I said, cracking up. That made her laugh.

"If anyone touches my sister, they answer to me," Bellamy told Atom. He looked over to me, and I shook my head. He disregarded it quickly, saying " Let's go." Octavia hugged me again before telling me to be careful.

"Bellamy, watch after her," she said.

"I don't need him to-" I started.

Whispering, she replied, " Think of it as a really hot guy paying attention to only you." I pulled back to see the smirk on her face.

"Ha. Ha. Ha," I said, sarcastically before limping off behind Clarke and Wells. Bellamy and Murphy followed close behind me as we walked, making me feel uncomfortable. It wasn't so much that Bellamy worried me. He wouldn't do anything to me because Octavia would definetley be pissed at him. Murphy was the one who worried me. He was a wild card, always trying to show off his so called power over everyone. I didn't want to be alone with them, but I knew I would have to be. Before I risked my life with accompanying Murphy through the woods, I hurried to Clarke and Wells.

"I really wish he wasn't the one with the gun," she said as I moved beside her. I shrugged and put my hands in my pocket.I felt the tough wooden handle of the knife brush my fingertips.

"It is what it is. I don't think it is really the worse case scenario. Atleast we will know what they are doing instead of leaving them to do God only knows what at camp," I replied. It was her time to shrug. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, we needed them. Well we needed Bellamy, but I guessed Murphy could be useful. They were strong, and we were more likely to get Jasper back with more people. The least we could do was be civil. At least until one of them pissed us off. So I turned back to send Bellamy a smile, but neither one of them were behind us. "Where are they?" I asked.

"What?" Clarke asked, stopping and turning around. I stood there, searching in every possible direction they could have gone. Had they gone back to camp? Was the grounders picking us off? Not knowing what was happening, I gripped the knife in my pocket. I was about to yell out for them when I saw them from the corner of my eye, walking down a hill. A wave of relief washed over me. 

"Come on. We have to go." I mumbled. I was pissed, but it wasn't at them. It was at me for worrying so much about him. 

"What's the rush?" Bellamy asked, moving his gun within his hand as he talked. I rolled my eyes. We were wasting precious time that could be the difference between life and death for Jasper. I didn't want to deal with their bull crap.

"Well we are going after a dead kid anyways," Murphey added. That was enough to set me off. Limping, I walked over to him, pushing him against the nearest tree.

"What did you say?" I yelled, pulling out my knife and pressing it to his throat. "What the hell did you just say?" Murphy looked at me with a smirk and started to laugh.

"I like it when you are aggressive," he said, chuckling.

"Oh do you?" I asked, pulling him forward and then back against the tree. His head hit the trunk hard and wiped the smile from his face."Jasper is not dead. Do you understand me? We aren't going to find his body, asshole, and I swear, if I hear you suggest that he is dead again, I will not hesitate to push you off one of these cliffs. Now apologize."

"Payte," Clarke said behind me. I shook my head, continuously.

"I'm not letting him go until he appologizes," I said, taking the knife away from his throat and sticking it in my pocket.

"I'm not -" I didn't even want to hear the rest of his sentence. Pulling my knee up, I caught him in the groin. He tried to double over, but with the tight hold I had on his chest, I wasn't going to let him.

"Appologize. Now," I yelled.

"I-I'm s-sorry. He's not d-dead," he managed to say.

"That's all I wanted." I let go of him and watched him fall to the ground, gagging. I held a hard glare on my face as I moved up from him to Bellamy, who was smiling. Feeling my face soften, I stared at him. Why wasn't he mad? I basically had just made sure his right hand man could never reproduce, which I should've gotten an award for but still. "Now let's go." I had to get away from the awkwardness that was forming between us at the moment.

"Not just yet, Sweetheart," Bellamy said as I turned around. I saw his hand go past me and grab Clarke's wrist. "We can go when Clarke takes off her wristband." Instantly, I turn around to see the anger on Clarke's face. She yanks her arm away from him and steps closer.

"The only way that the Ark is going to think I am dead is if I am actually dead."

"Brave, Princess," he replied, chuckling.

"Find your own nickname," Finn said. He showed up, walking down the hill and going to Clarke. I glared at him since I wasn't very fond of him at the moment. He had said going after Jasper was a suicide mission, according to Clarke. That hadn't sat well with me. "In the mean time, how about we split up?" He turned his head to me. "Payte, you want to go with Bellamy and Murphy?"

"Not really," I replied, looking at Murphy still on his knees," but I guess I can."

"Okay. Let's go then," Clarke said. Wells, Clarke, and Finn took the lead. They stayed on our path while we watched them. I could already see Wells being completely ignored. They were leaving him out as they walked. Eventually, he shook his head and stopped, looking back at us. I nodded and motioned for him to join us. Slowly, he made his way back up to us with his eyes on the ground.

"Come on, boys," I said when he finally got to us. Bellamy gave me a look, putting his gun back in his waistband. He held his hand out to Murphy and helped him off his knees. I had a smirk as Murphy groaned and limped a little as he started to walk.

Taking the place as leader, I began to head right with the boys following. We could cover a lot more ground by going that way. Unfortunatley, there was an incline. I looked back to ask for Well's help, but I decided that I needed to do it on my own, to show myself that I didn't need to depend on others. Putting all my weight left, uninjured leg and pulled myself up by the trees. It was hard and painful, but I managed to get to level ground. It gave some of the pride that had left over the last two days back. I didn't need to rely on anyone but myself. I could do it.

"You good?" Wells asked, finally looking up from the ground. I nodded and glanced up from the ground in front of me. Bellamy and Murphy had already ran up the hill and were leading us. I knew I had to hurry and get up there. I couldn't take the chance of them leading us in the wrong way. I had to get to the front and take over. 

Walking around Wells, I went towards them, eventually passing Bellamy. I thought that would be good enough since Murphy wasn't the smartest and probably didn't have a sense of direction. I lurked quietly behind him though to make sure.

"You know. I think we have a lot more in common than meets the eye," Bellamy told Wells as they walked together.

"We have nothing in common," Wells corrected him. I kept facing straight ahead but listened to every word they said. Making it less obvious that I was being nosy, I looked over to Clarke and Finn who were walking about a two hundred feet to our left. I had made sure that we wouldn't be too far away from them, just in case.

"No? We both came down here to protect someone we love," Bellamy continued. Wells remained quiet so Bellamy spoke again. "It's okay. Your secrets safe with me." Actually, it wasn't really a secret. I had heard Monty and Jasper talking about it yesterday on our way to the river. Octavia and I had joined in, convienced that Wells had to be in love with her. Why else would you want to get arrested? He wasn't that interested in the Earth. "But of course, it is worse for you." I was deeply invested in their conversation that I hadn't seen the rock in front of me. My foot gets caught, and I start to trip, but thankfully, I quickly caught my balance. 

"You okay, Sweetheart?" Bellamy asked. By his tone, I knew he had a smirk on his face. I raised my hand into the air and flipped him off, trying to keep him from talking to Wells. I didn't want the poor boy to be upset the entire trip. However, it did no good. Bellamy just laughed and continued to pester Wells. "Anyways, with Finn around, Clarke doesn't even see you." 

"Shut up, Bellamy," I said. His attempt to put Wells against Finn was getting on my nerves, but I couldn't help but agree with him. "Wells, this isn't me trying to make you upset, but I do agree with Bellamy." 

"See. I'm not the only one who sees it," Bellamy said. He walked around me, shooting back a smirk. 

"Let me finish. I don't think it's Finn that is keeping her away from you," I told Wells. "You are miserable. You need to talk to her about what happened, okay?" He was looking over at Clarke and Finn with sad eyes. "I'm sorry, Wells. I should have just kept my mouth shut." He shook his head and surpassed me, keeping his eyes on the ground. 

I was alone again with the other three distanced in front of me. I wished I would have convinced them to bring Octavia along. I could have done it, but I had known that the chip was more important. Plus, I hadn't figured I would be alone most of the time, walking forever lost in my thoughts. Doubts started flooding my mind. What if Jasper was dead? What would happen if we had to fight? None of us had been in an actual battle. I didn't know what I would do if someone came at me with the intention of death. I could barely throw a punch, let alone kill someone in a life or death fight. Even if I could, they could hit my leg, and I would be down, dead. Maybe that would be for the better. I wouldn't be such a burden to these people anymore. 

"Guys, down here," Wells called out. He had went around Murphy and was leading us. I stopped dead in my tracks and listened. There was running water ahead. Excitement started to flow through me. I had realized it, but my mouth was dry. I barely could produce any saliva anymore. I needed water. "There's a creek!" he yelled. His excitement sent a smile to my face. Murphy started running behind him down the hill, but Bellamy stopped and waited for me. 

"Do I have to help you?" he asked like I was his burden. Why did he have to do that? Looking up at him, I moved my hair back into my bandana. 

"If it's such a problem for you, I can do it myself," I stated. 

"By all means, go ahead." I didn't know what I wanted to come out of that. I almost wanted him to tell me no and wrap me up, show his hidden kindness that I knew existed, but I knew that wasn't going to happen. So I took a hold on the nearest tree and steadied myself. All the other hills had been going up, so I thought this downward slope would be easy. Needless to say, I was wrong. The piles of leaves made me begin to slip. My leg began to ache as I had to put most of my weight on my injured leg to stop me from falling. I let out a string of curse words but kept going. "Wrap your arms around my neck," he said, coming up behind me. 

"What are you-" I started, but he picked me up in his arms like men did with their wives back home. I began to study him as I wrapped my arms around him. He had freckles that covered his face and curly, black hair that draped against his forehead and flipped out at his ears. It made him look younger when it was down like that and not gelled up like it was when we arrived on Earth. And, he and Octavia shared the same tan skin, but unlike his sister who's eyes were a light blue, Bellamy had chocolate brown eyes. I was so close to his face. He probably could feel my breath on his skin. 

"Stop staring, Sweetheart. They might suspect something," he said. I looked down to the boys. They were already in the water. 

"One. They aren't paying attention. And two. There is nothing to suspect," I stated. He look led at me and chuckled. We continued down the hill without a single word. That was until he started getting to the edge of the water. "C-can you just put me down on the rocks?" 

"You don't want to go in?" he asked. I shook my head. 

"I'm okay. I don't really want to be closer than this." 

"Is that how you hurt your leg?" He sat me down on the rocks at the edge of the water. I nodded as he started to take a seat beside me. 

"Your sister decided to go for a swim, and I went after her, protecting he to be clear. Well Jasper saw something in the water. It was coming towards us, so I got Octavia out. She hit her face on a rock, I think. Anyways, that's how she got the cut. They got her up before what they said was a huge snake got me. It bit into my leg and drug me through the water, almost drowning me. It was terrifying, but Jasper saved me. That's why I had to come get him," I told him, dipping my hands into the water to drink. One handful was about as much as I could get, and frankly, it was as much as I wanted. 

"I'm sorry," he said. 

"About me almost drowning? It's okay."

"No. I'm sorry about yesterday. I saw the cut, and I got so mad. I was mad at myself for not going and protecting her. I was a dick. That's why I came in the dropship, to apologize, but then you started to bleed out. It scared me, Payte. You looked like you were in so much pain. I couldn't stand to see you like that. I had to get out. I couldn't watch you die." He leaned down to get water for himself. "I'm glad you didn't." I looked up at him and smiled. 

"You'd miss my awesomeness, huh? And you wouldn't have saw me knee Murphy in the balls," I said, laughing. 

"Yeah, that's definitely why I didn't want you to die. And I was pretty impressed with that by the way. You're a little bad ass, pulling a knife out on the guy." 

"He pisses me off," I laughed. Bellamy did too. We were having a normal, friendly conversation. It was a miracle. 

"Why don't you take your wristband off?" he asked, out of the blue. Of course. It was all a ploy to get my wristband off. 

"Bellamy," I said, glaring. "I'm not taking it off."

"No, that's not what this is about. Seriously, why? After they locked you up. After they floated your mom. Why do you want to help them?" I was surprised. He was being genuine about it. He was actually curious. 

"Well my Dad is up there, my friends. The oxygen is running out, and I don't want them to die like that. They deserve to see Earth, to see everything it has to offer." I replied. He sat there and watched Wells and Murphy. 

"I get it now. At least for you," he spoke, softly. 

"Why do you want the-" My words are cut short. 

"Payte! Wells! Where are you? We found something!" Clarke hollered. My eyes went wide as I looked at Bellamy. I tried to stand up on my own, but he was already up, extending his hand. I took it, and he pulled me up onto my feet. Wells and Murphy hurried through the water and stood by us. 

"We are up here at a creek. Where are you?" I yelled back. 

"We are below you. It comes off as a waterfall and then makes another creek," Finn replied. I didn't wait for him to finish before I started to climb back up the hill by myself. It was an incline now, so it wasn't that bad. 

"Payte, let me help you," Wells called after me. 

"Then hurry and get up here," I replied, laughing. Wells took that a little too serious. He ran up to me and placed my arm around his neck for support. I liked Bellamy's way better, but it would do. I mean he had offered, and I couldn't have said that I would rather Bellamy carry me. So, I walked with him up the rest of the hill and down the other to where Clarke and Finn were. 

Wells left me at the edge of the creek before continuing through the water to Clarke. The creek was shallow, but I knew there was always some deep spots hidden. At least that's what it said in my Earth Geography book. 

"Come on," Bellamy said when he got to me. He was holding out his hand to me. I looked over to Clarke then took it and began to walk to the water. The first step into the cool liquid caused me to shiver, but we kept walking together, staying on the rock as much as we could. Thankfully, the water came no higher than our shins the entire time. Before we got to the other bank, he rubbed his thumb over mine then let go. My eyes met his instantly, and he smiled. I returned the favor and then walked over to Clarke. She was looking down at some rocks that were covered in blood, a lot of blood. My smile faded away, and my mouth was covered by my hand. The blood was fresh. I knew that if he wasn't already dead, he would bleed out soon. I was becoming more convinced that we were actually just going to find his body, but I tried to push those thoughts out of my head. 

"Payte, do you want these?" Clarke asked. She had been watching me in my fragile state and probably thought that they would make me feel better, but they didn't. His goggles hung loosely from her fingers. I stared down at them. Some of the blood from the rocks had dropped down onto them. Gritting my teeth, I reached for them. No matter what I was feeling, I would hold onto them for him. I bent down and put them in the water, washing away all of the blood on the lens, and then I pulled the strap back and put it over my head so they would hang around my neck. 

"Thanks," I whispered, running my fingers over them. She pressed her lips together and nodded. 

"We're going to find him, Payte. We are so close." She looked over at Finn. "And Finn found some footprints. We can follow them." I nodded, staying silent. I knew if I opened my mouth that no words would come out, so why try? "Come on. Let's go." I nodded again and followed behind her down a waterless path of rocks. 

"So how do you know that we are even going the right way?" Murphy asked. 

"We don't. Space Walker thinks he's a tracker," Bellamy replied, resulting in a hard look from me. Of course, it got a comment out of Wells too. Sometimes I thought that he just wanted to fight with Bellamy. 

"Both of you, shut up," I growled. I wasn't in the mood for an argument. "I don't want these people to kill me, and by how loud the two of you are being, they probably are getting ready to." Wells gave me an apologetic look while Bellamy rolled his eyes, but Murphy kept his permanent scowl. 

"She's right. We need to stay quiet." Finn backed me up. I sent him an appreciative smile, and he returned the gesture then turned around. Something must have caught his eye because he didn't move. Instead, he reached for a small tree. One of its branches had been broken and was now hanging limp. If that wasn't proof that Jasper was brought through there, the small drops f blood were. They were puddled against the stones. Clarke and Finn bent down together to examine it. 

"See. I told you you are invisible," he told Wells. I swing my arm back and hit him in the stomach. His groan brought a smile to my face, and I turned around to see his face, but it held a plain expression. That's when I realized it wasn't him. 

"Was that Jasper?" I asked, trying to find the direction it came from. 

"I don't know. It could be," she replied. "I think it's time to get the gun out." I pressed my eyes shut and breathed.

I went first, surpassing everyone into the woods. If anyone was going to get hurt, it was going to be me, and that's how it had to be. That was the reason for my position. I wasn't going to let them get hit. I was expendable. I was weak. The hundred needed the others more than me. They had to live, except for Murphy. He was on my shit list at the moment.

"What the hell are you doing?" Bellamy asked, coming up behind me. 

"I'm making sure this isn't a trap. I can't risk one of you dying," I told him. 

"You think we can risk you dying? You are just as important as anyone else here. I need you," he said. " we need you. Now stop being so brave and get behind me." I didn't turn around or glance back at him. I had to keep my eyes open and ready. 

"I'm not brave, Bellamy. I'm weak. I can't go a day without breaking down and crying. You don't see Clarke crying. She's brave, not me," I told him. "Besides, I'm just holding the group back. I can barely walk for goodness sake." I was getting worked up and needed to calm down. Taking in a long, deep breath, I continued making my way through the woods. Finn had found the path that we were following. Thinking back, it might not have been the smartest way to go. 

"You're not brave? You are terrified, but you are willing to die for the rest of us. And Clarke hasn't almost died twice in the past two days. I think you deserve the right to cry more than anyone else," he said, casually. "And the reason you can barely walk is that you were willing to give your life to protect my sister's. You are so much more than you give yourself credit for. You don't hold us back, Payte. You are one of the only things pushing us forward. Now, get behind me, Sweetheart." I slowed down and turned to him. I could barely believe that he had just said all of that. It was Bellamy! He can be such a bastard, but he can also be the most caring person. He sidestepped in front of me with a smile. Heat started to burn my cheeks. I couldn't believe what I was feeling inside right then. 

We walked like that for a while, following the distant groans. We didn't know if we were going to find Jasper, but whoever was groaning was hurt, and we were going to help them. At least I was. 

"I think we might need to get off this path," I told Bellamy. "If this is a trap, we are walking right into it." 

"You're right," he replied, moving off the path to the grown up bushes. "This could keep us hidden."

"What the hell are you doing?" Clarke asked him. 

"Getting off the path," he said. "Payte thinks it could be a trap, and I agree." They were about to get into an argument when another groan echoed through the woods. Clarke and I made eye contact before she disregarded what he had said and hurried down the path. I prayed hat no one it thing that would kill us was waiting at the end. 

"Come on," I said to Bellamy. He looked angry, but I didn't really care. He could get over it. Even if we were right, three of our people were rushing down the path, and we had to protect our people no matter what. "Bellamy!" He looked at me and finally moved onto the path, taking a place in front of me. I tried to go around him, but he would just block my way. "What the hell?" 

"They might want to walk blindly, but you aren't," he said. I understood that he was only trying to protect me, but my place was with the others, not cleared behind someone's back. 

We ran like that for a while, me constantly trying to get in front of him. Finally, we came to a stop. We had caught up to the others. I laid my hand against his back, my body pressed against his as I peered over his shoulders on my tip toes. Gasping, I grabbed his jacket tighter. We found him, and he was alive. 

________________  
*im so glad that I actually got to update this week. It was only about a day late. Anyways, I was wondering if you might think that chapters like this are too long. Please comment and tell me if you like them this length or that they need to be cut shorter. Thank you so much and I love you all!!!


	4. Guardian Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens after they find Jasper?

He was alive. Tied to a tree, yes but we could deal with that. The only thing that mattered was that he was still breathing. 

Blood covered his cheek, and scratches embellished the visible parts of his body. There, on his chest, was a green layer of what looked like medicine. It covered the spot where the spear had penetrated him. That alone made questions race in my mind. Why didn't they kill him? Why did they save his life? I continuously reminded myself that it didn't matter, that he was alive, but the thoughts remained. 

"Jasper," Clarke mumbled, moving forwards into the field surrounding the tree."Jasper," she repeated, louder than before. I ducked under Bellamy's arm and followed her, hoping there wasn't a trap waiting for us. If there wasn't, great, but the possibility that there was made me try to stop her from going any further. 

"Be careful, Clarke," I told her, walking right behind her. I stepped with carefulness onto each patch of grass. We were halfway to the tree, and Clarke wasn't paying attention to anything besides Jasper. 

"I am." 

I shook my head, moving to the spot beside her. As my foot landed on the ground, it gave away, but before I could fall into the pit, I caught a hold on the Earth and Bellamy's arm. Well, he caught a hold on my arm. My life was literally in his hands. I looked up at him and saw that there was fear pooling in his brown eyes. Before I could even be scared, his other hand grabbed my arm. Pulling me up, he fell back onto the ground, and awkwardly enough, I fell on top of him. Our bodies were pressed together, my head on his chest. I was more scared on top of him than I was when I was dangling of a pit of death. He looked down at me and smiled. I had to get off then. I couldn't look at him. I couldn't make eye contact. I just knew that my cheeks had already turned red, and I didn't want him to know that he had that affect on me. 

"Sorry," I coughed, rolling off him into a sitting position. He gave me a smirk and sat up too, wiping off the dust off his pants. I still couldn't look at him. The heat in my cheeks was still burning, so I looked down into the pit I had almost fell into. At the bottom were sharpened branches that had been made into deadly spikes. I was glad I didn't fall into them, and lately, I was glad Bellamy was there. 

"Uhm," Clarke started. I looked up at her, quickly standing. I was definitely embarrassed. 

"W-we need to get him down," I told her. Wiping my hands on my pants, I looked up at the tree. "I can climb up there and cut him down." I kept my focus on the tree, trying to figure out the best way to get up there, but the silence made me turn back to the others. First, I saw Clarke looking at me like I was crazy, and then I saw Bellamy's look of disapproval. 

"You are not climbing up there," Clarke stated. She looked down at my leg and then the pit. I guessed she had a point. I wasn't the safest option. 

"I'll go." Finn spoke up, holding out his hand for my knife. Reluctantly, I reached into my pocket and pulled it out, giving it to him. "Wells, look after Clarke. Payte, watch him. You, come with me," he said, pointing to Murphy, who looked over at Bellamy. Bellamy nodded and began walking to the left side of the tree, motioning for him to follow. He did, but I did too. 

"I'm just helping him up, Sweetheart," he told me. 

"I'm just watching, Sweetheart," I replied. He chuckled and shook his head, moving closer to the tree. Bending down, he grabbed Murphy's foot and lifted him to the nearest opening. 

"Payte," Clarke called," do you see the poultice on his wound?" She was beside Wells on the right side of the tree, staring up at Jasper. 

"Yeah, I do. Why do you think they would try to save him after they tried to kill him?" I asked in return, moving to get a better view. 

"So they could use him as live bait?" Wells joined in. 

"Well maybe whatever they are trying to catch likes its dinner breathing," Bellamy added, joining me at my viewing spot. 

"Maybe what they are trying to catch is us," Finn said from the tree. 

"If that's true, we are right where they want us," I replied. I prayed it wasn't true. My nerves were already beginning to act up since my only personal defense was in Finn's hand. 

"Here," Bellamy said from behind me, tapping my arm with something. Turning around, I saw the knife he held out. I looked up to him and then down to the knife, slowly grabbing it. 

"Thanks," I said with a smile. He quickly returned it without another word. With that, I turned back around, feeling safer. 

We stood like that for a while, watching Finn and Murphy cut the vines that supported Jasper. There were plenty "hurry up"s and "be careful"s ,most coming from Clarke, as they worked, silently. It was taking forever. It wasn't like the vines were thick, but there was so many wrapped tightly around Jasper's body, it took awhile to get just one section done. 

"Be careful," Clarke said again for the ninth time in the past ten minutes. 

After her voice faded, the field became quiet again. Nothing besides the cutting of vines was heard. That was until I heard sticks start to break in the distance. Looking around, I saw that everyone was still, rigid. Even Finn and Murphy had stopped their cutting by then, looking down to us. That's when the growling began. Shit. I gripped the handle of Bellamy's knife tighter, stepping back a few steps until I collided into something. My entire body went rigid against it. I went to step away, but hands found my hips and pulled me closer. 

"Sweetheart," he said, his body pressed against mine, gently. I felt all the fear melt inside of me and involuntarily pressed myself against him. I mean he had a gun. Come on, it wasn't anything. I just felt safer in his embrace. 

"What the hell was that?" Murphy asked. 

"Grounders?" Bellamy added, his thumb moving the my shirt against my skin. I knew it was a terrible time, but his warm hands on my body sent chills throughout my entire body. My skin was tingling under his touch. I, for the I lost how many times, was feeling things I should never feel about Bellamy, but the way his hands gripped my body, my t-shirt, was exhilarating. It left me numb, and I barely could think. 

"No," was the only thing I managed to say in response. Something had caught my eye, lurking in the covered path. I laid my free hand on one of his. "Bellamy, get your gun." He let go of my hips and reached for the gun in his waistband. 

"It's not there,"he replied. "Get behind me now." The creature revealed itself, a large, black beast. At first, it strolled through the clearing, studying it's surrounds, but then it started to run and growl. "Now, Payte." I hurried behind him, pulling up his shirt. The gun definitely wasn't there and it hadn't fell out. 

"Bellamy, gun now," Clarke yelled, panicking. Before he could reply, a shot was fired and hit the beast in the back leg. Looking over, I saw Wells follow the beast into the tall grass that rustled with the beast's movements. So basically, he was aiming at us as well. If I wasn't mauled by the mutant panther, I would probably have a bullet lodged somewhere in me. So I tried to get out of his shot which pressing my back against Bellamy's. 

"I swear, I am a death magnet. Four times in the past three days. That has to be some kind of record," I rambled on. "You know, maybe the fourth times the charm."

"Will you shut up?" Bellamy asked, reaching back and grabbing my arm. He started to turn me away from the tall grass. That way, he would be the one to get attacked. 

"What are you doing? Bellamy, stop!" I yelled, trying to resist. "I don't want you to die. Bell, stop." 

"I told my sister I would protect you. Now let me do it. I can't let you get hurt. Not again," he stated, turning me into his chest. I tried to resist. I tried to pull us away from the grass, but got a "be still" from Clarke, saying that it would make the panther attack. Still, I tried to pull away, to get him away, but he held me tightly. I felt my tears rolling down my face onto his shirt as I laid my head against his chest. 

"Bellamy, no," I cried, wrapping my arms around him. "I'm sorry." My hands were shaking as I gripped his t-shirt. I could feel my heart beating excessively in my chest and his shaky breaths. 

"Don't apologize, Sweetheart." He took his thumb and wiped away my tears before putting his hand in my hair and pulling me as close to him as possible. "I understand. I'm a dick." But the thing was, he wasn't a dick, and I finally knew that. 

"Bellamy, I think it's go-" The roar of the panther drowned my words. I saw it jump with its teeth heading for Bellamy shoulder. Instantly, I closed my eyes, sobbing. 

BANG.

Opening my eyes, I saw the panther, lying lifeless on the ground. It was over. It was finally over. So, I expected to at least let go of, but I wasn't. Instead, I was held even tighter. I had to let go though. I could feel the states burning holes in my back. Running my hands up his arms that were holding me, I told him that it was over, so he let go, slowly removing his hands from my body. 

"Are you okay?" I asked, looking him over and wiping my eyes. He was still breathing hard, but he wasn't hurt. He wasn't even paying attention to me. Instead, he was looking to Wells. I followed his gaze to see the poor guy looking like he was about to pass out. He was still pulling range trigger, but only clicking sounds came from the gun. It was empty. Finally catching Bellamy's state, he dropped the gun and stared back. There was tension in the air, for sure. Adding to it, Bellamy decided to speak. 

"Now she sees you." Wells quickly turned to Clarke, but she hadn't been paying attention to the boys. I was her focus point. She had a look of disbelief on her face as she stared at me. Trying to avoid her eyes I looked into the tree to Finn and Murphy. They had stopped working and were staring at Bellamy and me as well. 

"Don't you have something to be doing?" I asked, clearly annoyed. There was more important thing to worry about than Bellamy protecting me. 

"Uh yeah," Finn replied. He looked over to Murphy and then started to to cut again. They were almost done, so Murphy climbed down to cut the vines binding Jasper's legs. Finn stayed up the tree, holding Jasper up. It take didn't take long after that for Murphy to finish. Once all the vines were cut, they slid him to the ground, receiving a groan from Jasper. It was a groan filled with so much pain that it made me shutter. 

"I'll help you," Wells told Finn, hurrying to his side. He looked back at Clarke, but she never returned the gaze, making me feel bad for him. He pressed his lips together and bent down beside Jasper, wrapping his arm around his neck. They picked him up and started for the clearing. I expected Clarke to follow, but she was standing still, watching Bellamy and Murphy. 

"Murphy, grab it's back legs," Bellamy commanded, walking past me to the creature. 

"What are you doing?" I asked. I moved behind him as he bent down to pick the panther up. 

"Taking your advice about taking care of my people," he said, smirking back at me. I couldn't help but smile down at him. That what leaders do and he was finally catching on. Shaking his head with a laugh, they lift the panther from the ground, having trouble at first, but once they adjusted to the weight, they managed to keep it up as they followed Wells and Finn. I began to walk behind them when Clarke showed up beside me. 

"We need to talk," she said as we moved through the clearing. 

"Why? There is nothing to talk about."

"What was that back there?" I furrowed my eyebrows at her. 

"What do you mean?" I asked, wrapping my arms around me as I continued to walk. The wind was starting to pick up, and I had left my jacket back at the camp. I definitely regretted that when the goosebumps began to cover my arms. 

"You know what I mean, Payte. If he would have gotten any closer, he would have been inside you." She stared at me, trying to suppress the obvious smile that was threatening to show. I watched in amusement as she clenched her jaw, but she couldn't help but smile. I joined her, laughing, but soon, the laughter died down, and we became serious again. She had a look on her face, telling me she was worried. "Do you like him?" I quickly diverted my eyes from her. I wasn't going to give her an exact answer because honestly, I didn't even know how I felt about him. I was more than confused and pissed at the feelings I felt. 

"You want the truth?" I asked. 

"No, I just want you to lie to me, please," she sarcastically replied with a "that was stupid" look. 

"I don't know," I told her. "That's the truth." By then, we were at the bank of the creek that we would have to cross. On the other side was the boys, waiting for us to joint them. I saw Bellamy first, wet from the creek. He had a concerned look. 

The creek had risen a bit since the last time we had crossed, and most of the rocks were covered with water. I took a shaky breath, searching for a way to avoid too much water. Thankfully, Clarke went first. I was grateful that she hadn't chosen to go through the waist deep water that pooled on either side of us, but the knee deep water that we did go through was just as frightening. I couldn't see my feet in the muddy water, and that terrified me. 

"Just talk to me, Payte. Keep talking to keep your mind off it," Clarke said. I swallowed and nodded, keeping my eyes on Bellamy. 

"I don't know. I don't know," I continued, mumbling the words over and over again as I got closer to the other bank. Bellamy set the panther down and quickly moved to the bank, holding out his hand to me. I took his hand, looking up into his eyes. He smiled down at me and pulled me up onto the bank. Looking back at Clarke, my smile grew. 

"But I think I do." 

 

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So guys what do you think about the new chapter? I hope you enjoyed it. I know it was short, but that's because others are going to be longer. Plus, I felt like that was a nice stopping place. So please comment and tell me your thoughts. Thank you so much! You all mean the world to me.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first story that I have put on here, but this fan fiction is on both Quotev and Wattpad.


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